[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Gustav Peter, born 1903 Volhynia

[Jim & Muriel Gambrel]

I am resubmitting the name I am researching for a friend.

Gustav Peter  was born 1903, near Zhitomir, Volhynia.  From a
baptismal certificate in 1907, the village is
something like Olovornetz or Silovornetz, and I am waiting for my
friend to get a copy of it for me. We
cannot decipher any names from his original parents.

Shortly after he was born, his mother died.  His father married again,
and 3 years later his father died.
The stepmother did not want the children, (two older siblings, a girl,
might have been called Amalia, and
a boy, Samuel).  So these 3 children were split up, each given to a
different family.  They never saw or heard
from each other again.  Gustav was given to a family named Balkov, or
Balkow.  They had him
baptized in the Lutheran church. (so we assume the settlement in that
area was of Lutheran faith).
When Gustav was about 9 years old, the family, including Gustav, went
into East Prussia (this was 1912
or so).  Gustav was confirmed in the Lutheran church in Borchersdorf,
East Prussia.  The confirmation
certificate does not mention his parents names.

Gustav received German citizenship in Kulm, Prussia.  In 1928 he met
Olga Lerch and they married.
They had one daughter (more children in Canada) and came to Canada in
1929, settling in Manitoba.

Gustav did not keep up contact with his foster parents, because they
treated him very poorly, and he
pretty much had to fend for himself from a very early age.

In checking the St. Petersburg records, there was an AUGUST PETER, and
a SAMUEL PETER
who married in 1883.  Could one of these have been the parent of
Gustav?  Or an uncle?  Was there
a naming pattern followed by people in Volhynia?

I would appreciate any help.   Thank you

Muriel Gambrel, for Ursula Peter